


Lonely

by FrazzledDragon



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-20 20:43:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11342850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrazzledDragon/pseuds/FrazzledDragon
Summary: J'onn is exceptionally lonely, but no one expected Batman to be able to help him.





	Lonely

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very new to this whole thing, so if there are any super problematic mistakes, PLEASE TELL ME. 
> 
> Also, there are mentions of suicide, so please, if that will pain or trouble you in ANY manner, please avoid.

    Batman was typing away on the monitor in front of him, trying to ignore the vroom that indicated Flash was coming his way. He had important business to attend to and Flash had years of experience being a distraction.

    The vroom came right up to his door and stopped, a gentle knock proceeding an even gentler voice. “Bats? I know you’re busy, but it’s kinda important.” Batman tried not to be surprized. Usually, Flash didn’t waste time on knocking, much less appropriate voice volume or being serious.

    “Come in,” he rasped.

    The door opened slowly and Flash walked in at a normal pace. It must be serious, Batman pondered.     

    “I need a favor, Bats.” Batman scoured his memory, trying to recall what the red-suited redhead could possibly need. Nothing came to light immediately, so Batman turned to face him. “It’s about J’onn.” Batman felt himself become more concerned.

    “Go on.”

    “He’s getting really lonely. I mean, I don’t blame him. His situation really stinks. But now that Easter’s passed, he’s been mentioning suicide by criminal and doing riskier, unnecessary stunts and he’s talked about leaving and never telling us where he’s going or ever coming back. I’m really worried about him. I asked Diana what I should do, and she said we could celebrate his culture. But then it occurred to me I don’t know anything about his culture. And I would go ask him, but he can read my mind. We, Diana and I, I mean, want it to be a surprise. If he reads my mind and finds out why I’m asking, he’ll just close up like a clam and nothing will come of it.”

    Batman had a sneaking suspicion of what this had to do with him and an even stronger inkling that he would help, but he pretended he didn’t. “So?”

    “Well, Diana pointed out that you are the one person on Earth that J’onn either can’t or doesn’t read the mind of, whether on accident or on purpose. So, you’d be ideal for helping us at least try to help him.”

    Batman nodded to show he heard him, but gave no sign whether he would do it or not.

    Flash seemed to panic. “I have no illusions that this will be an end all solution, but we all owe it to him to try. And I know you’re very busy and Gotham needs constant surveillance and attention and Diana said you probably wouldn’t, that you didn’t really do celebrations and that this kind of job wasn’t really your cup of tea and-”

    “Wally,” Batman interrupted, waiting for Flash shut up. “You can tell Diana to shut her pie-hole because that I’m not that terribly awful of a human. I’ll help. It’s as you said, he owe it to him to try.”     Flash’s masked face lit up like a Christmas tree. “You will?!” Before Batman could reassure him, Flash’s arms were around him in a tight hug. “Thanks Bats.” He raced out of the room.

    Batman telepathically called for J’onn. J’onn. _You awake?_

    _Yes. Do you need something?_

_I need to talk to you._

_I’m in the med bay._

    Batman stood, stretched, and made his way to the med bay. J’onn was there waiting as promised, looking as depressed and lonely as Batman had ever seen him. Sure, the Justice League was his new family, but Batman understood just how much one could miss the original family. He nodded his greeting to the Martian.

    J’onn nodded back. “What can I do for you?”

    Like with many other things, Batman found mostly honest to be the best policy. “The others are worried about you. They seem to think that I’ve the magic touch.”

    J’onn smiled weakly. “I suppose they are right to worry. I’ve found myself to be very mentally unstable. However, I fail to see how an equally mentally unstable person is supposed to help.”

    Batman smiled. “It’s a mystery to me as well. Do you know how I handle my loneliness and depression?”

    J’onn looked up and with a straight face said, “With poor decisions, too much alcohol, and slightly suicidal tendencies coupled with an extremely low self-worth.”

    Batman conceded. “I was going to say immensely unhealthily by refusing to communicate or to try to get better, but that’s pretty accurate too.”

    “Why do you bring this up?”

    “Because I want to know about your home. About the holidays, the religions, the celebrations. I want to know about your language and your sayings. Tell me about your family, your jobs. I want to know about your parents, the government system. The social classes, the social expectations, your childhood. Anything and everything we have time for. We shove our culture down your throat but never care to ask about your culture. Now, I see that I could benefit from learning and you could benefit from talking. You’re stuck here all night and I have nothing I’d rather do.” Now, that was a flat out lie but J’onn didn’t need to know that.

    J’onn failed to hide his shock, but began to talk. His sadness was evident, but so was the happiness as he remembered his home. He talked for hours and Batman’s attention never wavered. He was spurred on as Batman asked questions and laughed at some of the more embarrassing moments from his youth.

    The Martian hadn’t looked happier in months. He hadn’t expected to enjoy talking so much, much less to the stoic, mysterious Batman, but the Bat was a fantastic listener with endless patience. The dark cloaked man ignored the moments where J’onn’s voice would break and he’d come close to crying. It was incredibly therapeutic. As much sadness as it brought him to think of his home and his family, it also brought him peace.

    He talked for a full hour about his wife and kids, how he’d never forget them and probably would never love another how he loved her. He told the Bat about his two children, what they liked to do and how their favorite thing in the world was watching Earthling comic shows. They didn’t understand them at all but loved the bright colors and wonky art styles.

    He talked about his parents and his siblings, whom he loved very dearly as well. He talked about the lessons he learned and second best moment of his life, when his mother told him his wife was perfect and his father nodded in agreement. The first best moment was when his wife agreed to be his. He talked about everyone he loved and why he loved them.

    He talked about his favorite celebrations and holidays, not noticing the Bat taking notes and paying even closer attention than before. He talked about the clothes and the lengths people would go to get these clothes. He told jokes from his home, jokes that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to Earthlings, but he would still laugh at. He talked about the technology and the entertainment.

    He only stopped when on the panel of buttons beside him, the one indicating Wonder Woman was landing in the Javelin bay lit up. He turned to check that it was actually her before turning sadly to Batman.

    “I’m afraid that is all. We have company arriving.”

    Batman nodded. “Thank you for sharing. It’s been incredibly eye-opening.” He had had to hide tears when J’onn had talked about his family. It had hit close to home and the empathy he felt for the Martian was almost undisguisable.

    “No, thank you, Bruce.” J’onn looked at his feet. “I… I needed that.”

    Batman smiled gently. “I know.”

    Batman walked away, still smiling as Wonder Woman joined them. She didn’t miss the smile on the Bat’s face or the relaxed, bitter-sweet expression on J’onn’s face. The ploy to get Batman to conduct the therapy session was a double-edged sword, she had known from the start.

    They both looked happier.

    She almost didn’t mind the fact that Batman had told her to shut her pie-hole six hours prior.

 

    Several hours later, Batman found Flash and got him to talk privately. “I’ve got all the information you need.”

    Flash grinned and jumped for joy. “I talked to J’onn earlier too. I think you really helped! He smiled at me! He won’t say what made him happier, but he just feels… warmer! More alive.”

    Batman nodded. “I’m glad. However, onto your surprize. The martians had a holiday similar to Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead to the uncultured, traditionally held in about two Earth weeks. They celebrated those they had lost, specifically those who died heroically or unfairly. They’d have holographic, interactive interfaces that they would be able to talk to, or thank and pray for. He described how they were made, and with a little help from GL, I could probably construct a few. He also described his loved ones for me, so I could probably create an interface for them. GL could also hunt down the traditional food from other planets with a little help from Shayera.”

    Flash’s jaw dropped. “That’d be incredible. Could you really do that?”

    He nodded. “Probably. But I’d need GL’s help especially. Is he on board with this?”

    Flash’s grin grew. “He will be in a second.” The red suit zoomed away, only to return about thirty seconds later. “He’s on board.”

    “Talk to Superman and make sure that J’onn has nothing to do today, but is immensely occupied for the next two weeks. Have him assign GL and Shayera to work with me for the next couple days at the very least. Have some of the younger recruits take their places as practice. Got it?”

    Flash nodded and zoomed away.

    Batman went to find J’onn.

 

    “I’ve got an idea, J’onn. But it requires your assistance.” Even without a greeting, J’onn had felt Batman’s presence in the room.

    “What idea is this?” He could feel the man smile.

    “It’s a surprize.” Mostly honest.

    “What would it require me to do?” The Martian turned, scanning the shadows for the man he knew was hiding there.

    Batman finally came out of the shadows, the smile still there. “Just some modeling and talking.”     J’onn’s eyebrow flew up. “Okay.” He trusted the nocturnal man, but even to a martian this was an odd request.

    J’onn grew steadily more confused and curious as to what this surprize was as Batman filmed him and requested more voice samples. When Batman requested him to morph into his wife and mimic her voice and speech patterns, he almost refused. But his curiosity got the better of him and he did.     Finally, Batman put the tablet down and melted into the shadows. “Thanks.”

 

    Two weeks flew and Batman was exhausted. He had gotten very little sleep in preparation for this party, but everything was nearly perfect. Green Lantern and Shayera had gone over the top, getting as much martian stuff as they possibly could. The party was to be held in a completely ignored, unused conference room that had been built into the Watchtower close to a year ago, but it had been proven unneeded. Until now.

    Batman had covertly double checked with J’onn that the holiday was in fact today, and it was. He made sure the six other founders knew they were to meet in the conference room for a top-level secret meeting. The five who weren’t martian knew to meet there five minutes prior without letting J’onn know and they were to be dressed in typical martian formal fashion. Even Batman would be removing his cowl and cape for the simplistic clothing.

    But Batman was far more excited to see how his new technology would pan out. He had spent days programming and building and rewriting and rewiring, trying to make it perfect. There were six modules total, each with their own AI. Batman had spent far too long using the voice map that J’onn had provided to build sentences to answer any question J’onn could possibly ask. He’d studied sentence structure to decide how each person would answer the question. He’d done his best to implicate emotion and mood into every answer. He’d even built in a telepathic capability, something the martians had not done, allowing J’onn to have private conversations if he so chose.

    He worked the longest on J’onn’s wife and two kids, but J’onn’s parents were equally convincing. He’d also done one for J’onn’s older brother Aer’ic, whom he had regarded very highly.

    They were set equal distance apart along the back wall of the conference room, each covered in a simple blue cloth. They were the main attraction, but certainly not the only attraction.

    Shayera and Green Lantern had worked tirelessly to create a buffet table with typically martian food and drink choices, with the closest ingredients available. They had also found decorations and art from the culture to display around the room. Batman, with the help of Green Lantern, had altered the lighting in the room to mimic martian lighting, and paintings of scenery typical of a martian city lining many walls. Shayera had even found some relaxing, almost opera-like music.

    They had done their very best.

    Now, all there was to do was to double check wiring and functionality, before donning the clothing and waiting.

        Bruce was the first to get there, nodding to himself. He was rather proud of how it all came together. Wally was next to arrive, his awe visible as he gazed around the room. He hadn’t been able to come see it, due to how busy the League had been the past two weeks.

    Wally looked to Bruce next, his smile huge. “Thanks, Bats. This is better than I ever imagined.”     Bruce nodded, his gaze wandering. “It’s better than I imagined too, and I planned it.”

    Superman was the next to arrive and his reaction was similar to Flash’s. “When you said you had a surprize planned for J’onn, I never imagined you’d go this far. It’s breath-taking, Bruce. It really is.”     Bruce imperceptibly nodded his thanks, watching as Diana walked in too. Her jaw dropped and she looked to Bruce in shock. “So, you do know how to throw a party.”

    “I do if it’ll benefit the right people.”

    “It’s gorgeous, Bruce. If he doesn’t at least appreciate it, I don’t know what to do.”

    Green Lantern and Shayera were the last to appear and they both smiled satisfactorily. “For how hard some of this stuff was to get, it’s all worth it now,” Shayera commented.

    “Guys, he’s coming.”

    The three words from the speedster’s mouth were enough to send everyone’s hearts racing. Bruce started the music, softly, and turned on the martian lighting, eliciting a gasp from the others. The room was even more magical in martian lighting.

    J’onn walked in, his entire body showing his shock. He gazed around, everyone silent except the singer in the background. He gazed at his friends, respectably dressed in the fashion of his home. He recognized the singer in the background. His friends had no way of knowing, but that was one of his childhood favorites. He looked at the familiar art on the walls, the familiar food on the table. The lights were like the ones he had at home. Everything was so familiar, he couldn’t help but begin to cry.

    And his friends came to hug him and tell him it was okay to cry. They were there for him.

    When martians cry, it’s not like how humans cry. It’s not all that visible from the outside. Instead, it’s a telepathic emotion, where everyone in the room suddenly knows J’onn is crying, can feel his sadness. However, this time it was so intense that even the others started tearing up. But they could also feel his appreciation. Sure, he was immensely sad, but he was also immensely grateful.

    After about ten minutes of comfort and hugs, Bruce spoke up. His voice wasn’t exactly stable, but continued anyway. “Remember, J’onn, a couple weeks ago when I told you I had an idea?”

    J’onn’s attention was immediately refocused. He had stuffed the curiosity away when he realized that Bruce would tell him in his own time and not a moment before. He nodded slowly.

    “Then remember when I asked to make sure of which holiday it was today?”

    Again, J’onn nodded. He shape-shifted to match their formal dress, trying to compose himself..     “Well, this is my - well, our - gift to you.” He gestured to the six box-like modules at the back of the room. “I hope I did a sufficient job.”

    J’onn slowly wandered back to the boxes, looking back at Bruce confusedly. Bruce nodded toward them again. “I would recommend the third from the left.” That didn’t clear a lot up, but J’onn pulled the blanket off gently, his surprize emanating from him as his wife’s torso popped up. Bruce bowed his head in respect and pride as the tracking allowed the hologram to accurately place her hand alongside his face. Bruce could see the Martian’s jaw drop a little as she began to communicate with him telepathically. “M’yri’ah…” He murmured aloud. He turned to Bruce in shock. “Th-This… This is what you built? You built a sh’rine?”

    “I tried. I’m sorry if it doesn’t live up to your peoples’ sh’rines.” Bruce realized he might have accidentally offended J’onn by building these, whether by doing a poor job or doing better than his people did, but it was too late to take them back now.

    “No! No…” J’onn shook his head, holding two conversations at once. He began to cry again. “You made six…? That’s what those impressions were for… To give you a base to make these? But they’re so… realistic.” There was silence for a long time as J’onn spoke privately to his wife.

    Finally, with a dull sob, J’onn replaced the blanket, shutting off the hologram.

    “The one on the left and the one on the right of M’yri’ah are K’hym and T’ania. The first and second ones from the left are your parents. The last one is your brother Aer’ic.” He was quiet for a moment before asking Shayera, “Are any of these foods or drinks going to kill me if I try them? Being completely human is a dangerous hobby.” He led the other five founders over to the buffet.     “There’s a couple with loti rinds from the Rera Quadrant. Those will give you a nasty stomach bug, but nothing else will hurt you. And you can tell which ones have the rinds. They tend to be bioluminescent.”

    The others didn’t realize it immediately, but eventually they noticed that Bruce had wisely given J’onn some privacy as he spoke to the other holographic AI’s. They could feel him crying, but they talked amongst themselves and snacked quietly, listening to the music.

    About an hour later, J’onn joined them quietly. They looked at him expectantly. Bruce spoke up so he would be able to put his thoughts together. “This room will stay like this for the foreseeable future. You are welcome to come and talk with any of the sh’rines whenever you want. I will continue to update them until they are almost autonomous.”

    “I-I… I want to thank you all for this. I appreciate all the effort you put into this. I know it must have been very tenuous and expensive, finding all of these treasures. The music, the lights, the food, the art… It’s beautiful. You can’t know how much this means to me, to see you all be so focused on a culture that would otherwise be lost. A culture that you all have tried to learn about, be involved in. Words cannot express my gratitude at how much you all care.” They all felt his gratitude emanating off of him, his sadness and his love mixing together.

    “GROUP HUG!” Wally yelled, wiping tears from his eyes. The Justice League, with the exception of Bruce, piled together. However, J’onn was having none of that nonsense. He stretched his arm out and pulled Bruce in. Normally, Bruce would have fought, but just this once, he allowed himself to be enveloped in arms.

    _Thank you, Bruce. I know you were, at least in part, the driving force for this project. Wally says it was his idea and Diana helped, but he didn’t do any of this, not really. I am in your debt._

    Bruce tried not to snort out loud. _Do me a favor and let Wally and Diana take the credit. Do that, and we’ll call it even._

_You are too worried about your image._

_Perhaps._

    Bruce just smiled at J’onn and turned the music up. Bruce grabbed Diana’s hand and Green Lantern grabbed Shayera’s and they all started to dance. J’onn taught Clark the words in english and soon they were singing together. Then they all started laughing when Wally shamelessly pulled J’onn onto the dancefloor. They were laughing even harder when J’onn absolutely schooled Wally at dancing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so so much for reading! Please give advice for future writing if you have any, as I'm always looking to improve.


End file.
